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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25245433">We Don't Have Much Time</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/sweetsuesparrow/pseuds/sweetsuesparrow'>sweetsuesparrow</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Angst, Armitage Hux Needs A Hug, Established Relationship, M/M, Poe Dameron Needs A Hug, So much angst, but they don't talk about it enough, they get a hug but still</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-07-13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-07-13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-05 04:46:45</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Major Character Death</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,407</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25245433</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/sweetsuesparrow/pseuds/sweetsuesparrow</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>“We don’t have much time.”<br/>That had always been the refrain of this - whatever it was.  And now that Armitage has saved the lives of Poe and Finn and revealed that he's been the spy feeding the Resistance vital information - time is running out.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Poe Dameron &amp; Armitage Hux, Poe Dameron/Armitage Hux</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>7</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>80</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>Gingerpilot Week 2020</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>We Don't Have Much Time</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Accompanying art here https://queenphasma.tumblr.com/post/623548987788656640/we-dont-have-much-time-a-little-illustration-to</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <em>
    <span>“We don’t have much time.”</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>That had always been the refrain of this - whatever it was.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“We don’t have much time,” he had whispered against Armitage’s lips the first time they had kissed, in a grimey back-system bar that they had both gone to to escape who they were.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It had been a split second decision and yet they had both known exactly what was going to happen next in the filthy ‘fresher at the back of the bar.  It was quick and desperate, and the rhythm seemed to echo with </span>
  <em>
    <span>we don’t have much time, we don’t have much time, we don’t have much time</span>
  </em>
  <span>.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>They never did have much time - not the next time, in a hotel room Armitage had booked in Canto Bight, not the times they snuck conversations on encrypted comms, not for any of it.  </span>
  <em>
    <span>We don’t have much time</span>
  </em>
  <span> was a practical statement of fact, but it also stood in for the thing neither of them dared say out loud - that this was not a thing made to last - that it would end with one or both of them dead, probably sooner rather than later.  That was the sort of men they were.  They didn’t have much time, and so when they had their trysts - their stolen moments - Poe clung to Armitage like his own fleeting mortality.  </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The temporariness of it all hung between them, unspoken and heavy.  Every time they parted ways, or ended a conversation on the comm, Poe wondered if this would be the last time they would see each other.  Someday it would be.  Someday time would run out.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>When he and Finn were captured, he tried to meet Armitage’s eye, but the other man avoided it. Anger flared in his chest.  If this was how it was going to end, the least Hux could do was face it head on, meet his eye and acknowledge what was going to happen and in some way, silently, acknowledge what had been happening between them.  Didn’t he owe him that much?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>When Armitage volunteered to perform the execution himself, Poe’s anger grew.  He thought of all those moments they had shared - the time he had actually coaxed a laugh from the sullen general - the first time they had spent the night together, Armitage falling asleep against his chest - all his sharp angles smoothed, his soft lips slightly parted -  he hadn’t dared move, knowing that the moment the other man awoke he would leave.  Had all those moments been leading to this?  </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He heard the shots, but neither death nor pain followed.  He turned to see the troopers dead, Armitage standing over them.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m the spy.”  He declared, solemn and unsteady, looking almost as shocked by his own actions as the two Resistance fighters.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I knew it!”  Poe exclaimed - and he had, somehow, even though the other man had never told him.  A smile broke through his anger as some foolish part of him thought </span>
  <em>
    <span>there is time after all!  We’re on the same side, everybody wins</span>
  </em>
  <span>.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>And then the words - those familiar, awful words - “we don’t have much time,” spoken with urgency.  </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Him?”  Finn mouthed as Armitage led them down the hall, his boots clacking sharply on the durasteel floor.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Poe shrugged.  “I guess so.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>There was suspicion in Finn’s face.  It made sense - this was General Hux after all - betraying his own side - the side he’d destroyed a Star System for - kidnapped and trained Finn and countless others to fight for.  Even after everything he and Armitage had done together, they had never forgotten who they were - what side they were on.  Sure, he had seen glimmers of goodness in the other man, but he knew all the time in the galaxy wouldn’t be enough to tease them out, and they didn’t have very much time at all.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Armitage was leading them down a convoluted series of passageways, checking around every corner for oncoming troopers.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Maybe he isn’t helping us at all,” Finn hissed, “maybe this is part of the plan - maybe he’s taking us somewhere even worse - interrogation -”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Poe shuddered with the memory of First Order interrogation methods.  “I don’t think so,” he said, “I think Hugs might actually be telling the truth.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“That would be a first.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m going to talk to him,” said Poe, picking up his pace, trying to keep his face from betraying any of the complicated emotions that were roiling inside of him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>When he caught up to the general, he saw the man’s pale face was even more blanched than usual, his hands shaking where they held the blaster.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Why are you doing this?”  He hissed.  “I mean, thank you - but </span>
  <em>
    <span>why</span>
  </em>
  <span>?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Armitage’s mouth twisted.  “It’s all been a lie,” he spat, “the First Order - everything.  I thought - but I never had a chance.  It was all for nothing.  I was a tool in a plot I was too stupid to see.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“So you betrayed the First Order?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“The First Order betrayed me.”  He snapped.  “Now hurry, we’re nearly there.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Armitage-” he reached out to put a hand on the man’s shoulder.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The physical contact made him stop in his tracks, turning round to face Poe fully.  “I didn’t do this for you.”  His voice was cold, but thin, almost on the verge of breaking.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Sure,” Poe said, catching Finn’s eye - seeing the urgency there, and the confusion.  This wasn’t the time to reveal what his true relationship with the general was - it was a conversation for another time.  “That’s fine.  We can talk about this once we’re out of here - we can talk about all of this-”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m not coming with you.”  </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What?”  The bottom had dropped out of Poe’s stomach.  </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You need time to escape.  I can buy you the time you need, but I can only do it from here.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>There it was again, </span>
  <em>
    <span>time</span>
  </em>
  <span>.  Buying time, time to escape, time running out between them - “No.”  He said dumbly, “no.”  Suddenly he didn’t care what Finn and Chewy saw - the eyes on him felt a million miles away.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yes.  I’m not throwing my life away for nothing - you need to go - you need to win.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“So don’t throw your life away.  We can-”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Were those tears in the other man’s eyes, catching the harsh glow of the hall lighting?  “No.  Don’t be a fool Dameron.  You always knew how this was going to end.  It was only a matter of time.”  </span>
</p><p>
  <span>It was true.  He knew that, just as he knew the Resistance - this mission - was more important than his own feelings.  Armitage was right. And yet… some stupid, selfish part of him was railing against rationality, pleading against the unavoidable.  He reached out a hand to touch the other man’s cheek, feeling the warmth of his flushed face even through his leather gloves.  A tear broke free from the corner of Armitage’s eye, and Poe wiped it away.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Somewhere in the far distance - or maybe only a few feet away - he heard Chewbcca’s low, confused moan.  Finn stilled him.  Finn was a good friend - he knew, even if he didn’t understand - that this was important.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It was nice, wasn’t it,” said Armitage, forcing a kind of smile, “while it lasted.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah.  It was.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I ...you should know ...this thing we had - what we’ve been doing - it was the first good thing in my life.  I think I might’ve -”  His voice faltered and broke, as if that word he was about to say wasn’t able to pass his throat.  “I just thought you ought to know.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I did,” he said, “I do.  I do too.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Armitage’s lips spread into a real, honest smile that reached his eyes.  A sound came from his throat - a laugh, or a sob, Poe wasn’t sure.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He leaned up, pushing his fingers further along Armitage’s cheek, tangling in the man’s coppery hair, and kissed him.  It was harder and softer than any time they’d kissed before.  It was a last kiss - it was every kiss they would never have and every word they would never build up the courage to say to one another because time had run out - hungry and desperate and tender.  Poe tasted salt and realized he was crying too.  Normally he would be embarrassed.  He wasn’t a crying man.  But his shame was so far away it couldn’t reach him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Finally Armitage pulled away.  </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You’d better win this war, Poe Dameron.”  He said.  “Now let’s go.  There’s no time.”</span>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p>
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